All Star Game Contest is Up…
Last night was the first time in a while I can remember questioning Bochy’s moves more than once (in fact, at least three times):
1) Starting Whitey one game into Buster’s supposed ascension to the catching crown. I thought he was just Dirrrrty’s personal catcher? By the way, Dirrrrty has been painfully average for about two months so I don’t see the point in this “personal catcher stuff”.
2) Not pinch hitting for Whitey late in the game
3) Not sending Ray out to START the 8th. It was obvious in the previous inning that Affeldt was off and he was lucky as hell to make it out of that inning without giving up a run. If Bochy had planned on using Ray anyway you don’t bring him in for his first appearance to have to come out of the stretch with men all over the place. He should have started that inning…..
All star game contest is up. Looks like there are more than a few exact same guesses (I noticed me and Zumie and think there were others). Twin can decide what to do if we get a multiple winners. Probably a tie-breaker sudden death contest to be determined? That’s what I’d do…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Craig, when you get a chance, check out the email FBL question I sent to you . . . Thanks
Giants had 5 hits at Coors. Cy gave up 9 h, 4 bb, 1 hr, and the winning run before before he left in 6th. Four runs and we’re done. Neither Bochy nor Whiteside lost this game. Just need Zits to beat Jimenez on the road … we’re due.
BF: We are completely in accord regarding Bochy’s bad decisions last night. Personally, i’m coming to the conclusion that the team has lost confidence in his management. This is certainly true with the younger guys and their limited roles due to his acute case of veteranitis.
We saw what happened with F. Lewis and Franny who were dicked around constantly. This is also probably true with Ishikawa and now evidently is happening even to Buster. It could even have much to do with the spotty performance of Schierholtz and could well be why Bowker, Rohlinger and Downs are still dragging around in Fresno. True, some of these guys may only be AAAA players as was the case with Linden and Niekro.
But when a youngster gets the call and has steadily shown his mettle at the lower levels, he should get at least a week to ten days to see if he can make productive use of his opportunity. And that does NOT mean saddling up on the pine each and every day, with maybe one shot at the plate and/or a defensive replacement stint.
Did we fire anybody yet?
Regarding the decision to start Whitey last night: *I* got the distinct impression from hearing Sabean earlier this week on KNBR that he wanted and/or directed the extra start for Whitey thru the rotation. He mentioned the comfort level established with Bengie was profound maybe even to a fault and gathered the staff would be in “shock” too much turning over all the duties to Buster. Points 2 and 3 mentioned by Flav are all on Bochy. No defense there.
Have we fired anyone now?
Still stuck here in Texas, although returning to California tonight. I watched Bengie’s debut with the Rangers last night. He hit a ringing single to left in his first AB. Mike Maddux made many trips to the mound to discuss issues with the pitchers, with a final nod to Molina while he learns the staff. The Rangers sure seem happy to have him.
the fucking pitchers are all veteran guys (except MadBum), they’d call their own game anyway. This soft coddling approach to the pitching staff is pissing me off. Posey throws down a two, Zito doesn’t like that he’ll just shake him off and get the pitch he wants to throw. End of story…..
Baggs posited that Wheeler’s late addition to his ASG might be an indication of trying to showcase him for a possible deal, Fielder perhaps. Would Dirty and Wheeler be enough to snag Prince? Zito thinks he’d fit into the clubhouse regardless of the past incidents. Be in Milwaukee on Monday, he’d just need to change dugouts and uni’s. This team needs to score some damn runs. Time to do something.
Something is wrong with this team. The current losing streak shouts that message to the skies. The talent present is sufficient for the squad to go 10-15 games over .500. Now even the Rotation has caught the bug. The problem appears to be of a spiritual nature. Too many of the players are currently just going through the motions. Such an approach cannot win. If anybody’s got a better idea than a change in managerial philosophy i’d sure like to know what it is.
Something is wrong with the team and with Lincecum, IMO. He is not right.
I agree. It’s a malaise that cannot malinger.
Sometimes, there’s no explanation why you’re in a funk, how it started, or when it’s gonna end…Like in Hold em, you can have pocket AA, and get beat when you’re running bad, and be in the big blind with 2/7 off and win when you’re going good.
The only good thing about a losing streak is when it ends…and turns into a winning one…head up, chins high, stop blaming, hope for the best.
I like a trade for Fielder. It’s bold and dramatic. It could shake things up. I’d be willing to go Sanchez and whatever two players the Brewers want in the minors, except for Neal.
“Now even the Rotation has caught the bug.” WTF do you mean “even”? The fucking rotation is as much to blame as any other segment of the team. Fuck, the best pitcher during the streak has been the number five fucking starter. No, they’re not scoring but the staff has given up 38 runs in the streak and almost always puts them behind immediately. And guys like Tim and Matt are supposed to be the guys to step up, they’re choking up instead. Sorry, but Matt Cain has to beat John Ely, Tim Linceum has to beat Chacin… you give your two time Cy Winner a lead right at the gun, the fuckwad is paid to hold it…
Agree with tf…it begins and can end with the rotation. Watching Lincy and Cain just be avg. or even below that is excruciating. When that is “the strenghth” and they’re not strong, it has a crippling effect.
Twin: thoughts on the all star contest? Sudden death if there’s a tie?
How much more to you want from our starters? They’ve allowed the third fewest runs, they’re third in ERA and first in BAA. The team needs to score some more goddamn runs.
But they’ve spearheaded the losing streak. 38 runs allowed in the 7 game streak. They were getting runs , I don’t wanna hear that bullshit. I showed you the June numbers just before the losing streak, they were 6th in runs for June so I don’t wanna hear how our poor guys just buckled under the pressure of no run support. There is always a chicken and egg thing with a streak like this, but fact is they’ve been giving up over 5 RPG and giving up runs early. They’ve sucked, as has the pen. As with all streaks like this, it’s a team effort.
To the extent that the recent performance indicates any further decline, the staff deserves the criticism. But the team ERA is third in the league halfway through the season. They have done their job. The reason the team is 500 is more on the offense, which, even with solid contributions from Huff and Torres, is still collectively pretty much the anti-Bondsian, anti-sabrmetrics, Sabeanesque hack squad they’ve been since 2007.
Then there’s just the bad luck: they are *still* 3 games under in the Pythagorean projections. As I suggested in the off season, that was a risk that should have been factored into the roster construction, since they were 2 over at the end of last season. By contrast, things are evening out in the other direction for an inferior Dodgers team.
7 in a row and counting! At what point does the Giants team ownership going to realize what the hell is going on here? At what point does performance begin to matter? When will Sabean be held accountable for the team he has built?This is a team with the highest payroll in it’s division,How the hell can this team be so poorly constructed?
They are .500 because they’ve lost 9 of 11, James. It’s disingenuous at best to say the pitching staff has “done their job”. They WERE doing their job. They’ve given up 55 runs in those 11. Just as the pitching was better before the streak, so was the offense. Again, I had posted the numbers and the fact is the offense was scoring at a better than league average clip for June- until the home stand.
Anyway, I’m out for the weekend, first journey away since my Gamma Knife in February, My friend Bea and her daughter are picking me up- don’t know where we’re headed… see ya next week.
Have a good holiday, Twin. It’s good to get out.
I don’t know about disingenuous. The hand wringing the losing streak has prompted is really about the long haul. If the Giants end the season with the same ERA and ranking they currently have, it’ll be hard to blame the pitching for a finish w/o a playoff spot. That said, it *is* disappointing that the no names in San Diego are outperforming our staff.
Have a great holiday, TF.
Those “no names” are gonna have nowhere to go in sept. No way do they put 225 innings or whatever on each of those young arms. Have a good one twin
Torres, Sanchez, Huff, Sandoval, Uribe, Posey, Ishikawa, Rowand , Zito
Have a safe one, all of you.
enjoy the escapade of escape, Twin
Same to you tf.
Well, that lineup looks better defensively anyway. Hopefully it can produce some runs.
Have a happy 4th, TF. Poor Ishi, finally gets a start and it’s vs Jimenez. Thanks coach.
Think the onus is on the other lefties…Torres Huff Pablo.
Phillies news: Cody ransom just replaced the recently designated Brian bigcock on their big lg roster. It’s amazing that the 2 time nl champs have been reduced to shuffling those to ex-giants in and out
Cody ransom? He’s still around?
I saw both of those dudes opening day. In Triple AAA.
It’s a trying time to be a fan,to be sure.Right after Timmy gave up the run to put Rox.s up 4-3 he wasted the next guy with 2 unhittable changeups.It’s all there-he still has the stuff,but something is off with his mojo.
A well rounded team could survive those lapses.A few key hits,a few rallies,we could be managing these bad spells instead of going into free-fall. All 3 of the teams we’ve played have key players missing due to injury.We have no excuses.And we simply don’t have the guns to play catch up.Were a one trick pony,and when that act fails there’s nothing else in the show.
I just listened to Mike Krukow on the national Fox radio show and he indicated that Tim was “pushing” the ball in his first four starts, pointing out that his mechanics were wrong and it afffected his velocity. Once he got that straigtened out, he was fine for a couple of starts, but now he is relying too much on his changeup . . . He added that Timmy was “Timmy” last night, i.e., his velocity was normal (92 to 94 in the last inning he pitched, with a high of 95), BUT he is relying on his secondary pitches (changeup and curve) as out pitches. He should be using his bread and butter fastball for that.
He also commented on the race and said, “Like everyone else, i thought San Diego was not for real . . . not any longer, especially when you consider that the Giants have only won one of seven against them.” He added, “This is a 4 team race through September . . . none of the teams are perfect. For example, San Diego will need to be a buyer to protect Gonzales. He also cited Joe Maddon as saying that the Padres have the best 1-11 pitching staff in ALL OF BASEBALL . . . High praise since he manages a very good pitching staff and goes against the best in the American League. Kruk indicated the Giants are one hitter short . . . he said straight out that the Giants now know Bum CAN pitch in the major leagues, thus they have pitching to spare and should take advantage of that and trade for the hitter they need.
In other words, Krukow said a bunch of stuff he never says during Giants broadcasts. (grin)
anybody got a pirate broadcast link for today’s game?
ubaldo is living right, SF has hit some shots off him.
Pablo said the same thing Krukow did, that you have to be on the first one or two strikes….Ubaldo has too much going to try and take pitches til you get 2 strikes.. See how this works out for others. He sawed Pablo off first time off., Ishi raked first pitch he saw.
mr…go here …then follow the link at the top of the chat..
http://www.justin.tv/kostaz003
thanks! I’ll try it! (first, I foolishly thought MrMrbill was llokin’ for the Pirates game)
Bury the SOB right now.
I can’t believe TF isn’t watching.
It’s about goddamn time Ishi got a start. How ’bout that shit.
i’m delayed…but Ishi was worth it…
Same lineup tomorrow.
Ah, fuck zito
nothing like watching a game with a nice lead, but baseball is a funny game. I watched Mets-Nats on Fox, turned it off in the 8th w/ Mets up 5-2. Nats won 6-5. Man, I love the way Ivan rodriquez plays baseball. I’d take him on my team any day, talk about a gamer.
the pirate feed at justin.tv says OFFLINE
Hope Bill saw that inning…lot more entertaining than most pirate broadcasts.
willie,
you mean the still photo of the chick w/ the SF bikini top?
Love that ishi got a bomb. Bochy is probably busy finding ways to discount it so he doesn’t have to start him for another month. Go look at his home ops from last yr chump. He’s a young kid he’ll figger the road out if given the chance
willie — would you believe I stepped out for a min, after Row’s initial dbl at the top 3rd. Missed EVERYthing. Curses, foiled again!
this is ruining my evening…STOP THE BLEEDING
Ya Flav…Ishi over Nate anyday…
Since we sorely need a diversion, I want to recommend a gem of a book to any of you who are serious readers: Bone Fire by Mark Spragg. He wrote An Unfinished Life, which became a decent movie with Robert Redford and Jennifer Lopez. This is a sequel. (Stix/Carstie: I recall you have read Jim Harrrison? Similar genre but more spare, more heart-breaking, more poetic.) I’m only about halfway through Bone Fire but feel that strongly about it.
Back to the game.
Maybe.
“this is ruining my evening…STOP THE BLEEDING”
Pawlie, same thing I told Carstie last night . . . “Actually Stix, Ubaldo has been vulnerable as of late (going back at least his last 3 starts) . . . Keep your “dauber up.” It’ll all work out.”
RunZler and affeldt: I’m totally done with both these guys
ditto
ditto what Pawlie said, x2
feckinfeckmeferfeckinfecksake
Feck
Fuck the Rockies!
Well, so much for a 6 run lead.
I’m going out on a limb here: if they don’t win this game, Bochy’s job is on the line. I know it is an unprovable statement and actually as wishy-washy as their play, but so be it. There. I’ve said it.
Fucker was out at first clearly . . . And now Bochy is out.
That’s not a limb Pawlie, but how’s this one: Lose this one: SEASON OVER.
yes, DoubleD, and you can backdate that statement 10-14 days
I can’t even see the game but reading that Bochy just got ejected. Oldest ploy in the book: get all excited because your players aren’t.
And the Giants Nightmare’s continue!
These guys are unbelievable. When the Giants go into a funk, they go in all the way. It seems like it’s always been that way. What the fuck has happened to the supposedly “vaunted” pitching?
Extending Affedlt not lookin so good so far. Another Exec of the Year move…
7 runs off the best pitcher in baseball and they’re on the hook to lose.
What irony – Jimenez is the “pitcher of record” and will get the win if this score holds up . . .
I can’t watch anymore, too painful. Switching over to Daytona for NASCAR. Those wrecks are easier to stomach.
The fuckkng season isn’t over if we lose get a grip. This is just one horrendous inning out of a 162 gm season
but it is a very ominous trajectory…would you buy this stock?
No, this is one horrendous 8 game losing streak if the score holds up.
freaky losses (freaky, as in crushing) for both the Twins and the Mets today, as we concoct our own suicidal brew
If this roadie turns into a disaster, I’d say any other organization Bonehead is in trouble, but not this one….
Fuck Bochy!!! Atleast get your full money’s worth and pick up the bag and toss into RF.
wish Twin were here to comment on this note: after Thome’s 2HRs today he is ahead of Killebrew; isn’t Thome 53 by now? oh, no, that’s Jamie Moyer
Yeah shame on you guys. What would Twin say? Better yet, what would Bluto say? Let’s all hop in Peabody’s “Wayback Machine” and find out . . .
D-Day (Bruce McGill): War’s over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto: Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter (Tim Matheson): [whispering] Germans?
Boon (Peter Riegert): Forget it, he’s rolling.
Bluto: And it ain’t over now. ‘Cause when the goin’ gets tough… [thinks hard] the tough get goin’! Who’s with me? Let’s go! [runs out, alone; then returns] What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where’s the spirit? Where’s the guts, huh? “Ooh, we’re afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble.” Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I’m not gonna take this. Wormer, he’s a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer –
Otter: Dead! Bluto’s right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.
Bluto: We’re just the guys to do it.
D-Day: Let’s do it.
Bluto: LET’S DO IT!!
Nate the Great!!!
Like a doe-eyed zealot of a cult, I’ll hold out a sliver of a thread of an iota of hope for this game because of Bill James’s Big Bang Theory. Doesn’t he say that the team who scores the most runs in any one frame usually wins?
Bochy is amusing when he’s trying to get tossed. His heart really isn’t in it. Not in his nature. The ump did him a favor by tossing him as soon as he did…
Fuck yes. Great answer to that bullshit inning
wow…corpas (sic) delecti.
Took an admin of justice class in jc 40 yrs ago. Great class, filled with junior G-men campus cop types….only it was taught by a defense attorney, who looked at things a little differently, and we spent a lot of time on bill of rights, not one of their fav subjects. On his final we had to define that term, multiple guess question. Not what you think as he had explaiined to us.
I know it’s sometimes overused, but that was a “good AB” from the Panda.
DD (I love double Ds in real life), you’re supposed to be in Daytona!
Uribe pull something on that first swing? he’s walking around funny…